Luthien home page
Christmas is a time for, well, parties it seems. Malcolm's work Christmas party was at Vinopolis in London, where the theme was decidedly Cuban. It was a great chance to get "dressed up" and party 'til late. The chocolate fountain was very popular; apparently the same guy gets booked by someone at Malcolm's office every year!
Christmas is also a time for remembering why we are celebrating at all, and rejoicing in the birth of Jesus Christ. And what better way to relive the events of two thousand years ago than the Wintershall Nativity play. Wintershall is near Guildford, so we went with friends Sue and Matt (and Lily and Thomas) who live quite close by. The nativity play is famous and booked well in advance, and features a real baby playing Jesus, real sheep and calves, and real horses carrying two of the three kings into the specially-built stable.
Just up the road in Aylesbury is the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, part of the Buckinghamshire Museum. The museum itself is interesting enough, but the Dahl gallery is great fun, everything you might expect to celebrate the genius of the very creative children's writer. It was an opportunity for both the boys to get dressed up as school children of a bygone age.
The Methodist Church we go to in Chesham has a tradition of families lighting the candles of the Advent Crown. We were given the final Sunday slot before Christmas, so had the privilege of lighting all four of the red candles. Bridget and the boys did the readings whilst Malcolm managed the incendiary devices. Matthew memorised his lines to compensate for his slower reading, and James was loud and clear.
Christmas day brought the ususal round of presents; one of James' favourites was a dinosaur rescue helicopter, meanwhile Matthew entertained us all with his piano. He's been learning piano for the past few months, and so enjoying it we decided to replace the keyboard he had been using with the real thing (although still electric powered so we can turn it off....).

Malcolm's mum stayed with us for Christmas, and afterwards she went to Malcolm's brother's for a few days. So during the changeover we got the opportunity to meet the newest member of the family, baby Lily (Chris and Emma's daughter). The boys loved her, and both had a hug.

Another Christmas, another year. Here's to a great 2007.